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Synthetic biology could help address the problem of carbon emissions from coal-to-liquid and gas-to-liquid biofuel technologies, according to columnist Jim Lane. BioProcess Algae, Accelergy, Oakbio and LanzaTech are among the firms that are developing technologies that use algae or other microorganisms to capture carbon emissions and convert them to biomass, biofuels or high-value chemicals, Lane writes.

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Texas-based firm Biofuels Power said Monday that it intends to construct by Dec. 31 a processing facility in Houston that can convert 5 million to 10 million cubic feet of natural gas per day into 500 barrels of synthetic crude oil per day. The project is a joint venture with ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions and Liberty GTL. "With an abundant natural gas resource base, future gas-to-liquids developments like this could fill a need in the energy industry for decades to come," said Eric Gadd, chief commercial officer at Biofuels Power.

Algae.Tec has won a contract to develop an algae-based biofuel plant in Sri Lanka for cement manufacturer Holcim Lanka. The facility, which would be Algae.Tec's first in Asia, will pipe carbon dioxide emissions from a cement-manufacturing plant into an algae growth system.

Royal Dutch Shell and Anglo American announced they will hold off on their planned a $3.2 billion coal-to-liquids Monash Energy Holdings project in Australia. Monash is one of several energy projects to be dropped or delayed because of the economic crisis.

Consol Energy and Synthesis Energy Systems have formed a joint venture to build the first modern coal-to-liquids plant in the U.S. in West Virginia. Executives said the plant will use coal and waste coal from a nearby mine and will convert coal to synthetic gas using Synthesis' U-Gas technology. The synthetic gas will be used to produce about 720,000 metric tons of methanol for the chemical industry annually.

Freight rail remains the best option for transporting goods in a clean and efficient manner, according to Association of American Railroads chief executive Ed Hamberger. In an interview with OnPoint, Hamberger defends his organization's support of coal-to-liquids technology and discusses accusations that the rail industry charges customers unreasonably high rates.